The parents of two boys who needed hospital treatment after bullying incidents have said a Kent school is not doing enough to protect pupils.

Sebastian Groves, 13, and Kieran Hunt, 15, were assaulted at or on their way home from The Howard School in Rainham.

"I don’t feel I can trust the school to look after Kieran’s or any student’s welfare," said his father, Alex Hunt.

Head teacher Paul Morris said behaviour had improved in recent years and bullying was being tackled effectively.

The Howard School in Medway is a single sex comprehensive with 1,500 boys aged 11-18.

Figures obtained by BBC South East Today show there were 108 fixed-term exclusions from the school last year for physical assault.

There were 143 exclusions for verbal abuse or threatening behaviour.

Sebastian described incidents of physical bullying: "I had my ribs broken because someone thought it was funny to push me up a flight of stairs - people were suffocating me.

Sebastian Groves is now being educated at a specialist school.

More of the story,
click image